U.S. dollar fluctuates after jobs data

The U.S. dollar fluctuated against most major currencies Friday as investors assessed the newly-released March jobs report.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 215,000 in March, but the unemployment rate edged up to 5 percent, the U.S. Labor Department announced Friday.

In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents to 25.43 U.S. dollars, following a 2-cent decline in February. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.3 percent.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.39 percent at 94.562 in late trading.

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1390 dollars from 1.1389 dollars of the previous session, and the British pound dropped to 1.4231 dollars from 1.4374 dollars. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7682 dollar from 0.7674 dollar.

The U.S. dollar bought 111.61 Japanese yen, lower than 112.51 yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar went down to 0.9587 Swiss franc from 0.9601 Swiss franc but inched up to 1.3016 Canadian dollars from 1.2971 Canadian dollars. Endit